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In
October 1999 I began to study
Production and Automation Engineering at the
University Of Applied
Sciences in Munich . I even chose a
franco-german class which would
lead me to a double diploma.
Having been out of school for already 12 years, the first year was
pretty hard, but a 4week summer-language-program in Paris confirmed me
in my intention to come back for studying.
At
the beginning of the 2nd year 14 french students from the
Ecole d'Ingénieur (EPF)
came to Munich for their first internship. I did mine at the EADS
Research and Development Department, Ottobrunn. At the end of the 2nd
year we all had to pass 12 exams in order to meet the requirements to
study in Paris. Since that day our class consists of 14 french and 6
german students !
In
September 2001 we arrived at Sceaux, a suburb of Paris, where our
university is situated. After a couple of weeks I got accustomed
to the language, thus managing to follow classes easily. The french
system is rather strict and we had lots of exams
during the year in contrast with Germany, where we have exams only
half-yearly.
We were living in a student hostel (9m2) which
unfortunately didn't really meet german standards... Also the poor technical
infrastructure made us all long for home :-) . But nevertheless January
arrived quite fast and we found ourselves looking for an internship
anywhere in France, but it seemed as if french companies weren't very
keen on trainees !!!
Having written about 30 letters of application I finally was accepted by
SNR
Roulements in
Annecy (Haute Savoie),
the biggest manufacturer of roller bearings in France. This was perfect
for me because I wanted to leave the big city and get to the Alpes !! On
one weekend I moved to Annecy via Munich, where I grabbed my bike and
summer clothes. I had a nice apartment and worked for the research
department on the determination of friction in roller bearings. I soon
made friends with the other trainees and we had lots of fun going out at
night or doing all kinds of pastimes. I really enjoyed it!
In July 2002 I came back to Munich to work on my
diploma thesis at the
Labor für Automatisierungstechnik und Robotik (LAR) .
It was about the installation of a vision system on an industrial robot.
I was quite successful in finishing both the thesis and the final exams,
so I could really look forward to our
graduation
ceremony on 21 november 2003.
After 6 more months in Paris I started my final year project on 1. March
at W.L. Gore & Associates in Putzbrunn, Munich. I was working in the
production plant and helped to introduce a system for process control. I
finished this interesting work successfully and passed the final
presentation in Paris on 16. September. This was the end of my studies!!!
These last five years passed so fast, but they surely are the most
important ones in my life. All in all I can recommend this kind of studies to
everyone being interested in french culture and hightech applications.
Munich, 21.9.2004
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